added to, and sometimes even erased the tradi-
tional African cultures, makes it virtually impossi-
ble to draw a clear line between what can be
assessed as consistent with traditional African sys-
tems of beliefs and the result of Christian and
Islamic influences.
The concept of God that we can almost with-
out exception encounter in the many books and
scholarly articles written by either European or
African scholars on African religion or African
systems of belief is therefore not only the result
of a long infusion of the major Western religious
conceptualizations in the African culture but is
also due to the fact that interpretations of African
cultural and religious practices and cosmologies
are generally conveyed by the author’s own reli-
gious orientation.
By the same token, the concept of the sky has
systematically been included in these same Semitic
or Islamic religious orientations.
However, narratives of creation as diverse
as the ones pertaining to the Fon, the Zulu, the
Ga, the Yoruba, the Asante, and so on, make clear
distinctions between the spirits of the sky, the
Earth, the waters, and the forests and equate the
lord of the sky either with the chief of the com-
pound responsible for lightning and the stars or
just with thunder and lightning, as in the Yoruba
and the Ga peoples’ perceptions of the universe,
or with rain, as among the Asante.
Ana Monteiro-FerreiraSee alsoEarth; Fertility; Rain
Further Readings
Belcher, S. (2005).African Myths of Origin. London:
Penguin Books.
Callaway, H. (1967).The Religious System of the
Amazulu. Nendeln, Liechtenstein:Kraus Reprint Ltd.
(Original work published 1884)
Gyekye, K. (1996).African Cultural Values:An
Introduction. Philadelphia: Sankofa.
Hackett, R. (1998).Art and Religion in Africa. London
& New York: Continuum.
Monteiro-Ferreira, A. (2005, January). Reevaluating
Zulu Religion: An Afrocentric Analysis.Journal of
Black Studies, 35 (3), 347–363.
SOCIETIES OFSECRETS
African Societies of Secrets are organizations
whose primary role is to be the custodians and
regulators of the harmonious functioning of a
given community. These members help sustain
and regulate the development of the ancient wis-
dom, traditions, and culture of that group. Their
most distinguishing factor is their adherence to
secrecy. Information regarding the collective
wisdom is held secret by its members and is only
revealed to those deemed worthy by elders, pri-
marily during and after a rites-of-passage process.
The primary objective for keeping this body of
knowledge secret is to protect its integrity and to
keep it away from spiritually immature individu-
als who may use the knowledge for malicious
purposes. This body of knowledge teaches its
members how to govern society, maintain a bal-
ance between social groups, impart knowledge of
the universe, and work the instruments of that
society to manipulate its environment. This gives
the group a competitive advantage over external
or internal threats that may disrupt the balance of
that society.
This body of wisdom has been passed down
through ancestors who are believed to be accessi-
ble to those who know how to invoke and harness
the energy through ritual. These ancestors have
the information on how to draw on forces, pow-
ers, and spirits for enhancing the quality of life
here on Earth. The secrets on how to properly and
successfully utilize these methods are held by quali-
fied members of these groups.
Although African Societies of Secrets have
many characteristics, the following three are the
main identifiers: initiation rites, caste member-
ships, and the “sacred society”—the spiritual arm
of the corporate group.Rites of Passage
In many African societies, one is not an adult until
one has completed an initiatory rites-of-passage
process supervised by the elders of the community.
Until people have completed a certain level of this
process, they do not share in the privileges and
duties of the community.620 Societies of Secrets